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Aware of her scrutiny, Lil blushed and put her hands up to fiddle with the curls, or try and hide them.
“Now remind me,” Marietta said innocently, slipping an arm about Lil’s waist. “It is balloon ascent day at Vauxhall Gardens?”
Lil clicked her tongue, blushing furiously. “You are awful, Miss Marietta. It’s nothing of the sort, just that I-I was on my way out. For a walk. That’s all.”
Marietta nodded solemnly. “Of course. I can see you’re not dressed up in your best at all, and that you haven’t taken special care with your hair.”
Lil giggled nervously, casting her a sideways glance. “You’re a tease, Miss Marietta.”
“I’m sorry for it.” Marietta gave her a quick hug. “Don’t listen to my nonsense. You have a good time, Lil, and enjoy yourself. You know you deserve it, and if you don’t, then you should.”
Lil smiled. “I think I do deserve it,” she agreed. “I feel quite lightheaded,” she added. “Do you think that’s a good thing or a bad thing, miss?”
“I think it’s a good thing, Lil. Just hang on tight.”
Aphrodite’s Club seemed almost like home, and when Dobson let her inside, his smile was so welcoming that it warmed her heart.
“Miss Marietta!”
“Good morning, Dobson. Is Aphrodite available?”
“For you, I’m certain of it.”
“Marietta?” Aphrodite stood in the sitting room doorway, her eyebrows raised. “Come in here and tell me what it is you wish to see me about today.”
It sounded very formal, but then Aphrodite appeared formal. In her black satin dress with black lace overskirt and flounces, her black gloves, and her opulent jewelry, the courtesan was a rather intimidating figure. No doubt she had been up all night and must now be thinking of her bed, but she did not give that impression. Aphrodite had long ago learned the art of hiding her true feelings behind a cool, polite mask.
Perhaps it had been a necessity, to enable her to survive in her chosen profession. If so, Marietta wondered whether she would ever be able to successfully hide her own feelings. She knew that it would be difficult. She was impulsive, too impulsive some would say, and to restrain her vivacious nature would take patience and practice.
“If you have come to ask me a question then you should ask it,” her mother interrupted her thoughts. “Surely you are not squeamish, mon petit puce? Or shy? None of my daughters are shy.”
Marietta smiled. “No, we are not shy. We are all very decided and forthright. I wonder, is that a good thing? I don’t know, it seems to get us into all sorts of trouble. And yet I can’t imagine living any other way.”
Aphrodite seemed pleased with her answer, but she wasn’t distracted for long. “Now, then, tell me what it is that is troubling you, Marietta. Not Vivianna and her son, I hope?”
“No, they are both very well,” Marietta assured her, putting Aphrodite’s fears to rest.
“Then what is the matter? Do not make me guess, mon petit puce. I am too old for guessing games.”
“Max is the matter.”
“Ah, your Lord Roseby. Is he not cooperating?”
“Well, he is, but…It is not easy, Madame.”
“Of course not. What would be the point of it, if it was easy?” the courtesan replied sternly. “Have you completed the task I set you?”
Marietta smiled broadly. “I have. He kissed me. He gave me a kissing lesson, just as you said.”
Aphrodite’s dark eyes warmed. “Then I congratulate you, Marietta. You are very talented.”
Marietta thought, guiltily, that she was probably not that talented. In fact, not talented at all. Max had done all the work, and she had completely forgotten about her allotted task. It had been sheer good luck that it was accomplished, but she did not intend to tell her mother that.
“Thank you. Madame, there is a problem. Harold Valland does not want me to see Max; he has barred me from visiting him at Bedford Square.”
Aphrodite looked furious. She muttered something in French that Marietta had never heard before, and then she said, in a tightly controlled voice, “Does Lord Roseby know this?”
“No. Max would never do something so cruel, and he would not like his cousin acting on his behalf.”
